Discussions, discussions

So, Media, Faith and Culture class. Once again... has made me think about all the things that is wrong with Christianity. and i'm not saying it's bad. in fact, i love it. i thrive on it. it's so interesting and i feel like we, as Christians, ought to know all these things so we can improve and fight against it.

Anyway, in one of our readings, there was a intense survey done of the youths in America, and it said their top few criticisms of Christians was that Christians are
1. Hypocritical
2. Too focused on getting converts
3. Judgmental
4. Anti-homosexuals

Isn't that so sad? That Christianity is beginning to be known for what it stands AGAINST rather than what it stands FOR. That people only see the bad side of Christianity through crazy people like Britney Spears who claim to be Christians but obviously do not know what that means.

And then we watched a HBO documentary called 'Friends of God', where this non-believer went around the States to document Christians. And obviously her stance was biased, and she only went to the Bible Belt of America - the South (like Texas, Tennessee, etc.) and she only showed the controversial, weird parts of Christianity. Like pastor Ted Haggard (this was before his scandal, though. and on another note, i really don't judge him or think bad of him even though he did something wrong. cuz we're all sinners. his sins just happened to be televised on national TV. and we all have the potential to fall, but grace is the only thing that keeps us from falling), who managed to make Christians look really unreal and weird.

And there was this Christian Wrestling Federation, where this Christian guy nicknamed 'Jesus Freak', the founder, claims his wrestling matches takes wrestling and cleans it up for kids. well, i don't know what he means by 'clean', but his matches look pretty darned violent to me, just like WWE, minus the crude language. and there are all these kids screaming and yelling in excitement as they watch people bash each other up in the ring. and then at the end there's an altar call, and the pastor claims 10% of the kids/youths accept Christ.

So what does this mean? should we support this kinda stuff? Just cuz a few lives are saved? no doubt, every life is precious in God's eyes, but at what cost? So does this mean we can start up a 'Christian' club and have parties, drinking, gambling and all that stuff, then at the end give an altar call, and as long as a few people receive Christ, it's ok? that makes it Christian? I DON'T THINK SO. if this is the case, then, seriously... anything goes. u can do whatever u want and just slap the 'Christian' title on it to justify your actions.

And then, Rolling Stone magazine had this article written about this guy, Ron Luce, who hosts 'Acquire the Fire' conferences around the States. And each time, about more than 10, 000 youths attend his rallies, and they're so... extreme. it's like a huge, radical youth crusade. They have mass confession and weeping, then they proceed to show off their best dance moves for God, and there's also all kinds of bands that perform, and they do other stuff like write down 'things of the world' they wanna give up for God like music, movies, even Starbucks and Victoria's Secret and cereal. and then the preacher, Ron Luce, tells them all kinds of extremist stuff like 'real stories' about people who have 'lost their souls to secularism'. like there was a girl who left Jesus and got date raped, or another girl who dated a non-Christian boy and now lives a bisexual lifestyle and works in the porn industry.. it's all just so... extreme. and they sound like an orgy of emotions.

And then (sorry to go on, but there's just so many interesting things we talked about), there was this website which looked like a porno site, but then when u actually click and click and click inside, it leads to testimonies about how people have stopped their addiction to porn, and there's also a hotline to call for help with addiction to porn. and this method of getting people to the site but misleading them and making them think it's something when it's not, is called the 'bait and switch' method. which i think is totally wrong. how can u deceive people into thinking something when it's not this thing at all??

but then again, it makes me think of how... most of the evangelistic events we have are kinda 'bait and switch'. in a way. like we tell people it's a magic show or a musical, or we bring people in by enticing them with video games, and then at the end there's an altar call and we expect them to come to Christ.. i dunno.
SO MANY THINGS TO THINK ABOUT! my head is bursting.

i should probably go get some sleep.